Leading Professionals Acknowledge the Need for Reform

A recent guardian roundtable event hosted a discussion regarding the future of apprenticeship programmes. There were a number of issues raised by the leading professionals who contributed. It was agreed that apprenticeships should have the same status as a university course, that more information should be given to young people and businesses, that the guidelines should be more clearly defined and that employers should be actively involved in the process. It was suggested that the focus of apprenticeships should be on training the unqualified, rather than retraining current staff and “slapping an apprenticeship brand on it.”

The director of services firm PwC, who recently launched their own apprenticeship scheme, thinks the time had come to “trust employers to take the baton, to step forward and take responsibility.” Assistant director of UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) Judith Compton added: “Ultimately it’s about the learner, the employer and the provider working together to make it a seamless progression and good experience for the trainee or the apprentice.”